Payback: Straight Up - The Director's Cut
He's back with a vengeance.
Mel Gibson portrays Porter, a career criminal bent on revenge after his partners in a street heist pump metal into him and take off with his $70,000 cut. Bad move, thugs. Because if you plan to double-cross Porter, you'd better make sure he's dead. Porter resurfaces, wading into a lurid urban underworld of syndicate kingpins, cops on the take, sniveling informants and deadly gangs. Porter wants his money back. And the way he sets out to get is assures that, from beginning to heartpounding end, Payback pays off big.
Member Reviews
Not what I remember - Patrick_M
I can't tell if its a case of the Director's Cut making it worse or my poor memory, but this was not as good as I remember. It ends up being a dull crime story, not shot or paced interestingly, with frequently corny performances. I'm glad it helped make Maria Bello a star, but I wouldn't bother. You're better off watching Point Blank, a much more interesting telling of the same story!Same Story ... Completely Different Movie - sinic
I was really surprised when I saw this movie available as a Director's Cut. I was one of the people that really enjoyed Payback when it was released in 1999 (I think there were 30 of us) and I had no idea that the original director Brian Helgeland left the project after it was already shot and cut because the studio did not approve the movie. The theatrical release contained a whole new third act, a lot more dark humour and a different ending. It was a cool, 70s style revenge flick that flowed really well. I was intrigued to watch this director's cut because I had read the changes were extensive and completely changed the movie. I find most Director's Cuts really lame and inferior to the orignal ... this was not the case here.
First and foremost, this is no longer the same movie as the 1999 version. This version is really dark and Mel Gibson's Porter is ruthless and sociopathic. A lot of the dark humour was taken away and some brutal scenes that change your opinion of all of the characters were added. One scene in particular was jarring when Porter kills a man in complete cold blood with no remourse. In preparation of watching this director's cut, I watched the original a few days before and the added scenes were a little shocking and I can see why the studio got cold feet and demanded reshoots.
The inevitable question of course becomes "which movie is better"? I have a very hard time picking one over the other because these are completely different movies with completely different tones. This cut is gritty, extremely dark, violent and at times shocking. It is better or worse ... just different. This cut will not appeal to a lot of people ... especially if you really like the tone of the 1999 version.
Of note is the extra feature with interviews of all of the main players in the movie and the story of why this edition was released and what led to it. It is extremely well produced and an excellent companion piece. EnjoyDisappointing "Cut" - Big_Max
I saw the theatrical version when the movie first was in the theatre and have seen it again since. This version is a disappointment across the board. If this is what I originally saw I would have never had interest to see this movie again. This version is so different, that is worse. that I want to watch the theatrical version again just to see how this movie should be. This version is 2 star compared to 4 star for the original.
Member Reviews
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Not what I remember - Patrick_M
I can't tell if its a case of the Director's Cut making it worse or my poor memory, but this was not as good as I remember. It ends up being a dull crime story, not shot or paced interestingly, with frequently corny performances. I'm glad it helped make Maria ...Same Story ... Completely Different Movie - sinic
I was really surprised when I saw this movie available as a Director's Cut. I was one of the people that really enjoyed Payback when it was released in 1999 (I think there were 30 of us) and I had no idea that the original director Brian Helgeland left the ...Disappointing "Cut" - Big_Max
I saw the theatrical version when the movie first was in the theatre and have seen it again since. This version is a disappointment across the board. If this is what I originally saw I would have never had interest to see this movie again. This version is ...